Nation’s Governors Focus on Ways to Trim Health Care Costs

One day after a USA TODAY survey showed the states are divided along party lines when it comes to implementing the Affordable Care Act, governors meeting here tried to focus beyond politics on what needs to be done to cut health care costs.

And unlike the bitter battle at the national level, they calmly found middle ground by sticking with issues that could be addressed at the state level. The USA TODAY survey found that only Republican governors have refused to expand Medicaid and only Democrats say they will. But Saturday, the governors said they saw solutions.

“Fifteen years ago, we thought we would never, ever get a handle on violent crime,” said Gov. Martin O’Malley, D-Md., and he then talked about innovative ideas that worked in that arena, such as performance reviews and incentives. “I’m hearing all the same ideas. I’ve seen what you all are doing. It sounds like what we need is a common platform.”

Speakers talked about the high cost of patients with chronic health issues, keeping track of patients who needed follow-up care to keep them healthy and cut costs, and creating incentives for providers that lower costs for the states.